National Jewish Democratic Council removes Adelson petition

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The National Jewish Democratic Council, citing peace among Jewish groups, has taken down a petition calling on Republicans not to accept money from Sheldon Adelson.

"Accusations against Mr. Adelson were made not by us, but by others, including Senator John McCain (R-AZ)," said a statement sent late Wednesday by NJDC President David Harris and Chairman Marc Stanley. "Nonetheless, we regret the concern that this campaign has caused. And in the interest of shalom bayit (peace in our home/community), we are going to take down our petition today. Moving forward, we’ll continue to work hard to fight against the unique threat posed by the outsized influence of certain individual megadonors, which rightly concerns most Americans and most American Jews."

The petition based the call on allegations by a former employee suing Adelson for firing him that the billionaire casino magnate agreed to allow prostitution at his casinos in Macau, China; on the claim by McCain that Adelson, with the tens of millions of dollars he has infused into the Republican side of this year’s elections, was effectively introducing Chinese money into the campaign; and on federal investigations into allegations that Adelson has paid bribes in China.

A number of Jewish groups and figures, including the Jewish Federations of North America, the Anti-Defamation League, the Republican Jewish Coalition and Alan Dershowitz called the allegations unconscionable, noting that all had yet to be proven.

Harris and Stanley said in the statement that "we don’t believe we engaged in character assassination. We stand by everything we said, which was sourced from current, credible news accounts."

Adelson and his wife, Miriam, have given tens of millions of dollars this year to political committees supporting Republicans in general and Romney, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, in particular, although it is not clear if he has directly given to Romney.

He is a major giver to Jewish causes, especially the Birthright Israel program bringing young people to Israel and Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial, and has donated to causes associated with or favored by those who have defended him in this case.